The U.S. Department of Agriculture cleared UW-Madison's Research Animal Resources Center as compliant with animal welfare standards according to a report released last week.
A representative to the USDA visited UW-Madison to meet with the Center's associate director and several veterinarians to follow up an inspection in December 2009, according to Eric Sandgren, who oversees animal research.
""Specifically, the visit was to look at … an issue of where there was a gerbil and several dogs, and [the USDA] wanted to make certain that the laboratory veterinarians were informed when animals were displaying any evidence of disease.""
The inspector also asked for an update to all 20 violations.
According to the ten-page detailed report from December, the USDA cited sanitation, ventilation and enclosure concerns within the Center's facilities. In one case, a pen housing a large pig was constructed with slats that regularly caused the pig to fall when its feet fell through.
The report also noted a lack of cleanliness in some facilities. Dried blood, dust and floor stains were cited as deficiencies. Dirty air filters and an ""excessive accumulation of flies"" were also named as concerns.
According to Sandgren, each of the violations has been addressed by fixing the problem immediately, ordering necessary equipment, or removing animals from inadequate space.
Sandgren said the Center's Animal Care and Use Committee also changed several cited protocols to ensure researchers were always searching for the least painful experiments.
""Now we're requiring a narrative. Their concern was that there was no evidence that the investigators had done a search for alternative painful procedures because we didn't require them to write what they did in the protocol.""
Sandgren said UW-Madison will also submit a report by April 1 to address 12 comments from the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, a federal agency that conducted its inspection alongside the USDA in December.
—Ryan Hebel and Hannah Furfaro contributed to this report
